Differential Aptitude Tests for Guidance (DAT for Guidance)*

Differential Aptitude Tests for Guidance (DAT for Guidance) George K Bennett, Harold G Seashore and Alexander G Wesman

• 
  10 to 30 minutes per subtest, Paper & Pencil 


• 
   To assess aptitudes relating to job suitability and performance for school leavers and adults

The DAT has a history stretching back to 1947 with its original authors being amongst the most prestigious names in the history of psychometric test development. The unrivalled development history of the DAT and the accumulated validity data over more than four decades gives this publication unassailable authority.

DAT for Guidance builds on previous work carried out by The Psychological Corporation into reliable and valid measures of individual aptitudes and the results have seen the development of a shorter battery of tests with new items and UK norms.

DAT for Guidance assesses eight different types of ability, or aptitude, which can be related to success in different areas of employment. It is essentially a profiling instrument. Its co-standardised tests provide an eight point profile which portrays relative strengths and weaknesses in an individuals key aptitudes.

The eight abilities are:

Verbal Reasoning

• 
  How well can you understand ideas expressed in words?


• 
  How clearly can you think and reason with words?

Numerical Reasoning

• 
  How well can you understand ideas expressed in numbers?


• 
  How clearly can you think and reason with numbers?

Abstract Reasoning

• 
  How well can you understand ideas that are not expressed in words or numbers?


• 
  How well do you think out problems even when there are no words to guide you?

Perceptual speed and accuracy

• 
  How fast and how well can you do the paperwork that is so important in all offices, scientific laboratories, stores, warehouses and wherever records are made, filed or checked?

Mechanical Reasoning

• 
  How easily do you grasp the common principles of physics as you see them in everyday life.


• 
  How well do you understand the laws governing simple machinery, tools and bodies in motion?

Space Relations

• 
  How well can you visualise, or form mental pictures of, solid objects from looking at flat paper plans. How well can you think in three dimensions?

Spelling

• 
  How well can you recognise correct and incorrect spellings of common English words?

Language Usage

• 
  How well can you use the English language?


• 
  How well do you handle punctuation, capitalisation, and choice of words?

DAT for Guidance has been specifically designed for convenience and simplicity of use. Its high quality format provides for easy administration and enables results to be interpreted quickly and with confidence. It may also be administered together with the Career Interest Inventory to provide a combined assessment of interests and aptitudes.